Comprehensive NRC inspection begins at Arkansas Nuclear One plant

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said it began a comprehensive inspection this week of the Arkansas Nuclear One plant in Russellville, Arkansas.

The NRC said the Entergy plant is currently receiving the highest level of regulatory scrutiny following yellow findings issued in 2014 and 2015. A yellow finding is one step below the most severe finding. This indicates that the plant has problems related to operations and/or safety. The first violation in 2014 involved an incident with heavy-equipment handling, and inspectors' concerns over flood-protection measures led to a second yellow finding.

“This inspection is a very important element of our increased regulatory oversight of Arkansas Nuclear One as it provides for an independent evaluation of the extent of the performance problems at the site,” NRC Region IV Administrator Marc Dapas said. “It also includes an assessment of how thorough the licensee has been in identifying the extent of its problems and whether we think the planned corrective actions are of sufficient scope and depth to maintain performance improvement.”

Approximately 3,600 hours will be spent assessing the plant’s procedures and programs to determine where any corrective measures need to be implemented. The team consists of 25 NRC inspectors. On the NRC Action Matrix, Arkansas Nuclear One is one category below being barred from operation.